Don't want to drive? Share a bike!

A pilot bicycle-sharing program in Silicon Valley will start in March, which feels like it's just around the corner for cycling advocate Joe Walton.

"I've been working on getting folks to pedal bikes for a long time," the Cupertino resident said. "I think we're on the right track."

He meant that literally. Commuters and even weekend shoppers would be able to check out bikes at Caltrain stations in San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View. They could use them for shopping, getting to work or simply riding around for fun, then return them at the end of the day.

The Valley Transportation Authority this week won a $500,000 grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for the pilot program. Many details are yet to be decided — including fees and the kind of bikes available — but VTA officials offered a general outline of the upcoming program.

A San Jose resident might start the day by riding a bus from home to Diridon Station downtown and taking a train to Mountain View or Palo Alto. Once there, he or she would go to a "docking station" and swipe a credit or membership card to unlock a bicycle. Then it's off to work, shopping or pleasure before returning the bike to the original pickup location or at another docking spot. The program will start with 100 bikes divided among the three stations, and they would be available day or night.

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Sam Liccardo, an avid cyclist and San Jose city councilman who sits on the VTA board, said bike sharing would alleviate overcrowded bicycle cars on Caltrain. In recent years, especially during gasoline price spikes, bike commuters increasingly could not board their usual trains and had to wait for another one.

Bike sharing is old-hat in Europe but it's relatively new and spotty in the United States. Portland's first attempt in the 1990s died because of theft and vandalism. Those bikes were free, unreliable and mostly clunkers, according to news reports. Today's bike-sharing programs are more high-tech. For example, Paris supports one of the world's largest systems, with 21,000 bikes, 170,000 annual subscribers and kiosks throughout the city.

The VTA chose the three train stations for the pilot test because they are the most popular starting or destination points for bicycle commuters in Silicon Valley.

Walton, a member of the transit agency's bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee, hopes the pilot succeeds and bike sharing spreads to include the entire Bay Area.

"If I could ride my bike to the bus stop and leave it there," he said, "and then have another pair of wheels at my final destination, that would be great."